


We'll Be Here, Always

by august_anon



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Ler!Virgil, Teasing, Ticklee Morality | Patton Sanders, Tickler Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Tickling, ler!logan, ticklish!patton
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:02:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21560896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/august_anon/pseuds/august_anon
Summary: Patton can't always be happy, as much as he loathed to admit it. Sometimes he had bad days. Sometimes, those bad days had no rhyme or reason or cause. Luckily, his family's always there to support him.Warning: This is a tickle fic!
Comments: 16
Kudos: 27





	We'll Be Here, Always

**Author's Note:**

> Hey hey!! A friend of mine on tumblr (kanene-yaaay) and I shared a birthweek last week so I hounded her for a prompt to write her a gift fic and she asked for cheer-up tickles with lee!Patton. Hope you all enjoy!!

As much as he was known for it, Patton couldn’t be everyone’s “Happy Pappy Patton” all the time. He had his bad days, too, as much as he hated to admit it, and they weren’t always pretty.

Some days there was a reason for his sadness, or his anger, or whatever negative emotion was swirling around in his being. While he still wasn’t great at it, he was getting better at asking for help during those days. Sometimes, there was a solution and Patton could go back to smiling and taking care of everyone. Sometimes, there wasn’t, but his family stuck by his side no matter what.

The worst bad days, though, were probably the ones caused by nothing. Patton was just sad or numb for no good reason, and it was all the more frustrating. There was no solution to the problem because there was no problem in the first place! Those days were harder to open up about. He didn’t want to seem silly for feeling these ways for no reason!

So he did his best to hide it. He was probably far too good at it, at this point. Some days, though, he just  _ couldn’t _ .

He had managed to get out of bed (a miracle in and of itself), managed to force himself into making everyone breakfast (routine was supposed to help, right? Plus, if he let them go hungry, he would just feel even worse), but now trying to clean up afterwards was proving to be a problem.

And unfortunately, everyone had decided to spend some time in the common room after breakfast that day. Meaning they had a full view of Patton, just standing in front of the sink, feeling overwhelmed by it all. It only took a few minutes for Virgil to come back into the kitchen and guide Patton out to the couch with soft hands and gentle touches.

“Something bothering you, Padre?” Roman asked, placing a hand on Patton’s shoulder.

Patton threw his hands up in frustration. “No! Nothing! That’s the problem!”

Logan squinted at him. “The problem is that… nothing is wrong?”

Patton’s shoulders slumped as he buried his face into his hands and shook his head. He didn’t even have the energy to do  _ this _ .

“Or,” Virgil said hesitantly, like he was sure that he was wrong, “you feel like garbage and you can’t find a reason why.”

Patton lifted his head up so just his eyes peeked over his fingers, staring at Virgil.

“Is that it?” He asked softly.

Patton nodded.

Roman scooted in closer next to him. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

Patton shrugged and gave up, dropping his hands again. “It’s silly. I shouldn’t feel so bad when there’s not a reason.”

Logan scooted closer on his other side. “I… am not the best with emotions, as we know, but it’s not silly, Patton. Anything you feel is real and valid, and we want to help you.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Virgil asked, settling on the edge of the coffee table in front of him.

Patton shrugged again. “I don’t know. I’ve never found anything that helps, yet.”

Roman leaned back and tapped his chin. “Well, we could watch funny movies or videos?”

Patton shook his head. “Tried that.”

“The familiar comfort of Disney movies?”

“Tried that, too.”

“Cuddling?”

Patton shrugged. “My stuffed animals never helped.”

Virgil crawled onto the couch next to Logan. “Maybe real, warm bodies would help.”

So they turned Winnie-the-Pooh on in the background noise and surrounded Patton with warmth. It was wonderful, of course, cuddling with his family always was, but it didn’t make him feel  _ better _ .

“I don’t think it working,” Patton mumbled.

“You don’t feel any better?” Roman asked.

Patton shook his head. “Don’t get me wrong, this is great, I love you guys so much, but I don’t really feel much better.”

Virgil popped his head up over Logan’s shoulder and looked at with him concern. Patton tried to give him a smile, but it fell flat.

“Maybe if we could flood your system with endorphins,” Logan mused aloud. He turned to Patton. “Would you like to go for a run? Or do some sit-ups?”

Patton gave him a tired smile. “Sorry, Lo. I don’t think I quite have the energy or motivation to make myself do that.”

Roman started running a hand through Patton’s hair, and Patton relaxed completely against him at the touch. He hummed down at Patton like he was deep in thought.

“Hey,” Virgil piped up and Patton opened his eyes to look at him. There was a mischievous glint in his eyes. “What’s that thing you always do when you say I’m being too much of a grump and need to smile?”

Patton furrowed his brow. “Tick--” He cut himself off with a gasp.

Apparently that was all they needed, though. Suddenly, he had three predatory grins turned on him. He was pulled back against Roman’s chest, his legs being pulled up over Logan’s lap and feet landing in Virgil’s. Patton blinked, all of it happening too fast for him to process.

Logan laid a hand on his knee gently and leaned toward him. “If you don’t want this, tell us and we’ll stop now.”

Patton bit his lip and looked away, saying nothing.

They let the silence stretch for a few moments, giving him time to say no. Then, Roman started rubbing up and down his sides. It wasn’t quite tickling, yet, but even the idea had Patton so worked up that he squirmed a little with a grin starting to form.

“We probably shouldn’t overwhelm you all at once,” Logan said. “We can save that for the end. Why don’t we take this in increments?”

Virgil started rubbing Patton’s feet, slipping off his socks and digging his thumbs into the muscle. Patton jerked, expecting a ticklish feeling immediately and getting none. They were really starting to set him on edge.

“How about teasing, Pat?” Virgil asked, tweaking a toe to make him squeak before going back to the massage. “How would that make you feel? Would it help, too?”

Patton bit his lip and shifted around, trying to satisfy his brain’s want to squirm already without pulling away. “I--I don’t know.” His cheeks already felt warm. “You--you guys could try it?”

Roman leaned his head over Patton’s shoulder to whisper in his ear. “Oh, like telling you how helpless you are?”

“Or how we can’t wait to tickle that  _ adorable _ laughter out of you?” Logan added, resting his warm hands on Patton’s legs.

“Or how we won’t stop until we’ve tickled all the sadness out of you?” Virgil said, adding a skitter to Patton’s feet before massaging once more.

Patton let out a quick giggle at the tickle and covered his newly blushing face with his hands. His stomach felt fluttery and his head felt fuzzy, but in a good way. The teasing, as light as the experimental round of it was, just made him want to smile and giggle even  _ more _ .

Logan let out a darker chuckle than he normally would, sending a  _ zing! _ up Patton’s spine. “I believe I know the answer based on your reactions alone, but is that a yes to the teasing, our dearest heart?”

Patton nodded with a whine.

“Aww, did a little teasing make Patton all embarrassed?” Roman cooed in his ear.

Patton whined again, shifting in their hold. Roman gave a growly little chuckle right in his ear, causing Patton to squeak when his breath tickled.

“A little teasing getting Patty-Cake all cute and flustered? Gonna make you all red and tingly inside? You feel those pretty little butterflies in your chest and stomach? Soon those butterflies will be fluttering  _ all _ over your ticklish little body!”

Roman briefly fluttered his fingers against the side of Patton’s neck to accentuate his words. Patton giggled and scrunched up, trying to protect the sensitive skin, hands still covering his face.

“Come on, Pat-Pat,” Virgil called from the other end of the couch, starting to spider his fingers gently against the top of Patton’s feet, bringing the giggles back full-force. “Don’t hide that pretty face from us!”

Logan gave a quick tweak to one of Patton’s knees, making him squeal and buck his legs out of reflex. “Now, Patton, you’re hiding all of our hard work from us! Uncover that pretty little face of yours. We want to see that lovely smile and blush, hear those sweet giggles unmuffled!”

Patton bounced his legs and whined again through his giggles. He locked his elbows in place when Roman started to gently pry his hands away from his face. Roman laughed as he resisted.

“What do you say, Pat?” He asked. “I think this is starting to work!”

Patton nodded, his giggles going up a notch when Virgil switched from spidering against the tops of his feet to scratching against the sole.

“How about this, Patton,” Logan said. “We’ll make a game out of it.”

“Oh no,” Patton giggled.

“Oh, I like the sound of that, Specs,” Roman said, giving Patton’s sides a brief squeeze and laughing at his shriek. “What kind of game?”

“A game to add a little challenge,” Logan replied, and when Patton peeked at him through his fingers, Logan was smirking. He practically sang the next words, “Arms up, Patton. If they come down, the tickling stops.”

To prove his point, Virgil abruptly stopped the light scratching against his soles and stared at Patton expectantly, a glint in his eyes. Roman took his hands off Patton’s torso altogether, and Logan raised an eyebrow.

Patton made a pathetic sound in the back of his throat and began slowly raising his hands up and away from his face. Roman gently laid his hands on Patton’s biceps to guide his arms back, but even that made Patton flinch and giggle because of how riled up he was. Roman laughed against his neck, making Patton giggle even more, and guided Patton’s hands up and behind Roman’s own neck, making sure he interlocked his fingers.

“Ready?” Virgil asked with an evil grin. He wiggled his fingers menacingly over Patton’s feet.

Patton bit his lip and squirmed, suddenly feeling all the more exposed. He nodded, his grin growing. “Ready.”

Patton expected a brutal attack to immediately follow, but Virgil just started scratching at his soles once more. He toppled into giggles, but made an effort to not pull his feet away. Not like he could, though, with Virgil and Logan holding his legs tight.

“Aww,” Virgil cooed. “Look at you, trying so hard not to pull away. How considerate of you! I think I might just reward you.”

Not being able to hide his face made the teasing  _ so _ much worse, somehow. How did the others stand it when he teased them? It was like the words themselves were tickling him!

“Oh?” Logan asked. “A reward?”

Roman wrapped his arms tight around Patton’s waist. He wasn’t sure if it was meant as a hug or as a restraint, at this point.

“The best kind of reward,” Virgil said. “I’m going to play one of his favorite games with him!”

Oh no. Patton knew where this was headed.

“Virgil -- please!”

Virgil grabbed one of his toes, making Patton squeal. “ _ Pleeeaaase _ … get on with the game already? Well, if you insist! This little piggy went to the market…”

Patton broke out into loud laughter as Virgil wiggled his toe. “No, no!”

Virgil ignored his cries, wiggling the next toe. “This little piggy stayed home…”

Patton realized that Roman locking his arms around Patton  _ was _ , in fact, a restraint, now, as he tried to lunge forward to stop Virgil (yet somehow still kept his arms behind Roman’s head) and was only held back by those strong arms. Roman chuckled in his ear as he struggled and it only made the torment worse.

“This little piggy had roast beef… This little piggy had none…”

Patton’s squirming only got more and more frantic. He knew what was coming. He knew it was going to be amazing. But he couldn’t help it! It was going to tickle _ so bad _ !

“And  _ this _ little piggy went wee wee wee, all the way home!’

Virgil scribbled his fingers over all the little sweet spots on Patton’s soles. And under his toes. And  _ between _ his toes. Roman added his own quick scribble at Patton’s ribs and Logan briefly skittered his fingers at the backs of Patton’s knees.

Patton threw his head back against Roman’s shoulder and cackled wildly, his arms trembling with the effort to stay up. He was wheezing, starting to tear up, when Virgil finally stopped. He rubbed away some of the ghost tickles left on Patton’s feet.

“You good, Pat?”

Patton nodded, still out of breath and giggling.

“Need anything, jellybean?” Roman asked from behind him, giving him one last cuddly squeeze before releasing his hold around Patton’s trunk.

Patton shook his head.

“Are you alright to continue?” Logan asked, reaching over to straighten out Patton’s glasses for him.

Patton bit his lip on his grin. “My arms are still up, aren’t they?”

His three tormentors chuckled. Roman began swirling his fingers against Patton’s sides, barely touching the sensitive skin.

“I believe it’s my turn then, sweet little Patty-Cake. And I have  _ so _ many spots to explore.”

“Oh no,” Patton whispered, his grin growing. He tightened the grip his fingers had on each other.

“Oh,  _ yes _ , Patty-Cake. All this ticklish skin, and it’s  _ all _ mine!”

Roman started squeezing his sides and Patton’s arms flew down in surprise as he broke into loud belly laughter. Roman immediately stopped tickling, going so far as to raise his hands off Patton’s body. Logan and Virgil did the same, lifting their hands from where they had been comfortably resting. Patton whined.

“Remember the game, Patton?” Logan asked, hovering his now-wiggling fingers teasingly over Patton’s legs. “No tickles if your arms come down.”

Patton covered his flushed face (whether it was flushed from the teases or the exertion from the tickling, he wasn’t sure) for a few moments, making a series of frustrated and embarrassed sounds, before trying to lift his hands up behind Roman’s head again.

They immediately flew back down when Roman shot his hands toward Patton’s stomach and started wiggling them centimeters above his skin. Roman laughed behind him.

“Come on, Patty, don’t you want the tickles?”

“It’s harder up here,” Patton whined. “My arms know they’re within reaching distance and don’t wanna stay up!”

Roman laughed again and lowered his teasing hands. “Alright, alright. Let’s get those arms back up.”

Roman once again helped guide his arms up to interlock his fingers behind Roman’s neck, leaving him exposed once more. Patton gasped and squirmed as Roman proceeded to ghost his fingers down the sensitive underside of Patton’s biceps until he was just resting his still fingers in Patton’s armpits.

“Ro--Ro, oh goodness!” Patton giggled out while squirming.

“I’m not doing anything!”

“Oh, you absolute  _ tease _ ! All of you!”

“You love it,” Roman murmured teasingly into his ear before nipping the tip of it, making Patton squeak.

Then he finally started wiggling his fingers in Patton’s underarms and it took all of Patton’s willpower for his arms to not come flying back down to protect them. Patton’s head fell back onto Roman’s shoulder again as he laughed his heart out. He only hoped he wasn’t pulling too much on Roman’s neck as he tried to keep his arms up.

“Roman truly got lucky,” Logan mused, though Patton could barely hear him over his laughter. “He has all the spots he could wish for to choose from. Stomach, sides, hips, ribs, underarms, neck, ears…”

“Lo!” Patton shrieked as Roman hit a sweet spot between his upper ribs and armpits.

“Yes, dear Patton?”

“No teasing!!”

Patton jerked from side to side, lost in his laughter as Roman slowly started spidering down his ribs. He could feel Roman’s grin on the back of his neck.

“Oh?” Logan said, and Patton could  _ hear _ the grin in his voice. “Do you  _ truly _ want that?”

“No,” Patton whined through his giggles as Roman returned to ghosting up and down his sides.

“I thought as much.”

“I won’t spend  _ too _ long up here,” Roman said quietly in his ear. “You seem to be having some trouble with the game and you’ll need that energy for the next few parts.”

Patton squealed and burst into a fresh bout of bubbly giggles when Roman began placing ticklish kisses all over his neck and ears while spidering his fingers at the sides of his hips. He dropped some raspberries into the mix and Patton tried his best to scrunch up, but the way he was holding his arms kept it from being very effective.

Skipping over any further teasing, Roman suddenly started squeezing his hips. Patton’s laughter flew from giggles to cackles in a moment, and he almost thought he could hear the others laughing along. He didn’t open his eyes to check, though. They were squeezed tightly shut as if the effort to do so could help alleviate the sensations.

Altogether, the tormenting touches stopped and Patton sagged into the couch and his family’s hold. He breathed heavily for a moment, eyes still closed. Finally, he peeled them open to see the worst thing imaginable.

A single finger was hovering over his stomach, his  _ bellybutton _ , wiggling away teasingly. Patton gasped and started squirming back and forth, but the finger tracked his movements too well.

“Are you ready, Patty-Cake?” Patton couldn’t see him, but he was positive he could sense Roman’s delightfully evil grin through his voice alone.

“Oh no,” Patton mumbled through his giggles, eyes still locked on that little finger.

“Oh yes, Padre. This finger’s coming for your adorable little giggle-button!”

“No! No it’s not!”

Virgil laughed from the other end of the couch. “Ro, I think that’s going to be more of a  _ cackle _ -button than a giggle-button.”

Roman shrugged. “Only one way to find out!”

The finger flew towards his stomach and Patton squealed. His laughter had a shocked edge to it when it didn’t land where he thought it was going to, wiggling lightly at the edge of his stomach rather than in his navel.

“What--?” Patton managed through his laughter.

“It’ll tickle more the more he builds up to it,” Logan explained helpfully. “I hear anticipation can make you wonderfully more sensitive.”

Virgil hummed. “I wonder what that’ll mean for  _ you _ , seeing as you’re already as ticklish as can be.”

Patton’s following whine got cut off by his giggles as Roman started making a large spiral with his single finger. Patton wasn’t even sure if  _ he _ understood the words he was babbling out, much less if his tormentors could make anything out.

“We’re getting closer,” Roman sang.

Patton locked his elbow joints in place as best as he could, biting his lip and squealing when Roman hit a sweet spot between his bellybutton and pantline. He broke the spiral briefly to wiggle his finger there with a little more purpose.

“I’ll remember  _ this _ for later.”

“No!”

“Yes!”

Patton’s squirming got more desperate the closer Roman got to his navel. Logan ended up leaning over and pinning his hips down to keep him from moving away. Patton wasn’t sure if he wanted to thank him or curse him for it.

“Here it comes~!”

Roman’s finger slipped into his bellybutton.

Patton immediately toppled into loud belly laughter. Roman wasn’t even moving his finger! Patton’s squirming and his shaking tummy from the laughter was tickling him all on its own! Then, when Roman  _ did _ start wiggling his finger, Patton was lost.

He screeched and cackled and snorted, loving it immensely and wanting it to stop all at once. Roman chuckling in his ear with evil glee wasn’t exactly helping matters, either.

“Told you it was a cackle-button,” Virgil said, almost having to yell to be heard over Patton’s laughter, “not a giggle button.”

Roman stopped and Patton once again went boneless, body going limp aside from his arms, still raised high above his head. He sucked in air greedily, a sly grin taking over despite his giggles.

“Still not as sensitive as  _ your _ ‘cackle-button,’ Stormcloud,” Patton tried to tease. It wasn’t as effective with his residual giggles still peppered into his words, but Virgil’s cheeks flushed anyway.

“Oh, you are  _ asking _ for it,” Virgil growled, and abruptly started digging in beneath Patton’s toes again.

Patton shrieked and fell back into deep laughter. He didn’t even cry out or protest, he  _ had _ provoked Virgil after all.

Logan cleared his throat and Virgil stopped. Patton choked on the end of his laughter and coughed a bit.

“I  _ believe _ it is my turn, next?” Logan said, adjusting his glasses and giving Virgil a  _ look _ . “But first, Patton? Do you need anything before we continue?”

Patton coughed again. “Maybe a little bit of water?”

Logan nodded and before he could even do anything, Virgil was off the couch and heading into the kitchen. He came back with two water bottles.

“Figured you’d want one after, too.”

Patton gave him a sweet smile. “Thanks, Virge.”

Virgil ducked his head with a smile of his own. Patton started chugging one of the water bottles, his throat almost instantly feeling better from the scratchiness it had acquired before. Logan rubbed his calf in a soothing motion.

“Are you starting to feel better, Patty?” Roman asked, massaging his biceps to help with the soreness from holding them up for so long.

Patton nodded. “I feel loads better already!” Then his face, which had finally calmed down to his normal color after cooling off from all the exertion (and teasing), flushed again slightly. “But… I kinda wanna keep going and see whatever that big finish you guys had in store was.” He grinned up at Logan. “Plus, it’s your turn!”

Logan smiled back, though his smile was a little more menacing. “Indeed it is. Arms up whenever you’re ready. This may be the hardest yet.”

Patton cocked his head, confused for a moment, before sitting up straight, his eyes going wide.

Logan had his legs. His  _ extremely ticklish _ legs. His  _ worst spots _ lived on his legs, his thighs and knees. He’d never tested his lower legs, but the way Logan was eyeing them, he planned to.

“Ro,” Patton said weakly, “I may need some help keeping my arms up for this one.”

Roman leaned in and gave him a quick peck to the cheek. “Happy to oblige, puffball.”

Roman guided his arms up once more, this time raised straight to the sky, and wrapped his arms around Patton’s upper arms. Patton had to scooch down the couch a little to make it more comfortable (making Virgil and Logan have to scooch down as well), but the hold was secure. He wasn’t escaping from this one.

Logan wiggled his fingers, as if warming them up, and gave Patton a mischievous look when even that got him giggling. He hummed and smirked.

“Ready, Patton?”

Patton took a deep breath and nodded. “Ready.”

As he expected, Logan went straight for Patton’s shins and calves. The wiggling and scratching had him in giggles, but they weren’t terrible spots. Not like the rest of his legs were bound to be. It was almost relaxing.

“You’re adorable like this,” Logan said. “Red-faced and giggly. Your smile could light up the whole mind palace on it’s own.”

Patton was tempting to hide his face in the side of his arm, but he didn’t know if that was allowed with the rules. After all, the “arms up” rule was  _ there _ because he had been hiding his face. He decided not to risk it, groaning with embarrassment through his giggles instead.

“Of course, you’ll be just as adorable, if not more, when you’re in hysterics soon. If you think just your knees and thighs are going to get you bad, just wait until the finale.”

Patton opened his mouth to respond (with what, he didn’t know), but Logan took that moment to start squeezing his kneecaps and Patton cried out with helpless laughter. He couldn’t even get a word in edgewise, all he could do was laugh and laugh, unable to even try and stop the playful torture.

His arms jerked and strained, but Roman kept a strong hold on them. There was no way he was getting out of Roman’s grip, which  _ was _ kind of the point, but the vulnerability, knowing he couldn’t even lower his arms to get the tickling to stop, somehow made him all the more sensitive.

“Aww, does that tickle-tickle on your little knees, Pat?” Virgil asked him.

Patton nodded, not really able to do much else.

Roman cooed at him. “Do you want it to tickle-tickle on those soft, ticklish little thighs, too?”

Patton nodded again.

Logan chuckled, switching to scratching his fingernails at the backs of Patton’s knees to make him squeal and snort. “Patience is key, dear Patton.”

And he could definitely be patient. As tired as he was starting to get, Patton wasn’t ready for this all to end yet. He wasn’t expecting it to lift his mood as much as it did, but the tickling really helped him feel better. It was fun and he got to spend time with some of his favorite people and laugh, what wasn’t to love about it?

He just hoped his stamina would let him last as long as his heart wanted to.

Patton kicked out violently (and involuntarily) when Logan started gently kneading his thighs. He thrashed as hard as he could, not really wanting to escape, but his body demanding to go through with the panic responses.

“Whoa, watch it, Pat!” Virgil called.

“Sorry!” Patton tried to say through his laughter, but all that came out was a vaguely “S” sounding noise, the rest of the word lost in his guffaws.

He didn’t know how long Logan continued before he finally granted Patton a reprieve. All he knew was that he was close to crying out for it to finally stop when it happened.

“You good, Patty?” Roman asked as Logan started to rub away ghost tickles.

Patton nodded, stretching his arms as Roman released them. “Just need a minute,” he said breathlessly.

“We can stop if you want,” Virgil chimed in from the end of the couch, not masking the worry in his voice very well. 

Patton gave him a wide, tired grin. “I can take a little more. I want that big finish, it just probably can’t last all that long.”

Logan smiled at him, leaning over to wipe away tear tracks that Patton hadn’t even been aware were there. “We’ll be brief, but get some air while you still can. We’ll be nice and lift the ‘arms up’ rule, now, though.”

Patton chuckled a little. “Doubt I could’ve done it with my arms up, anyway.”

Roman ran a hand through his hair and Patton relaxed, just allowing himself to breath. He cooled off for a few minutes before nodding, signaling that he was ready.

Roman immediately slipped a hand up into his armpit, making him squeal in surprise, resting the other hand on his stomach. Logan rested one of his hands just above Patton’s kneecap at that dreadful pressure point and the other on his upper thigh. Virgil placed one of his hand on the sole of one of his feet, his other hand gripping the toes of the other foot.

Logan exchanged a look with Virgil and Roman. “We go on three. Ready?”

Patton nodded nervously, an anticipatory grin stretching over his face.

“One…” 

Patton tensed.

“Two…”

The word had barely finished when the three of them dug into their respective spots, making Patton actually  _ scream _ .

“I thought -- three!” He managed to force out before he was lost in his hysterics once more.

“I lied,” Logan replied cheekily.

Patton was lost in a sea of sensation. There were fingers under his toes and scratching his soles mercilessly. There were evil squeezes at his knees and thighs, making him buck like a wild bull. There was spidering in his armpit and wiggling at his tummy, fingers occasionally dipping into his bellybutton.

Patton’s laughter went silent. Tears streamed down his face once more. It was  _ wonderful _ and he  _ adored _ it, but breathing was starting to become an issue.

Patton slapped the back of the couch, a bit more frantically than he meant to.

The tickling stopped immediately.

Patton gasped for air.

“Are you okay?” Virgil asked, worry once again overtaking his voice.

“I’m  _ amazing _ ,” Patton whispered.

Logan reached for the second water bottle and held it to Patton’s lips for him so that Roman could massage the soreness out of his arms. Patton drank greedily, pulling away to cough a few times, before his throat felt somewhat more normal.

“Thank you,” Patton said, voice still a little hoarse after the intense workout his vocal cords had gotten.

The others shifted into positions vaguely resembling the cuddle pile they’d been in before the whole session had started.

“Any time, Padre,” Roman said, hugging him tight.

“Please tell us next time you’re feeling poorly,” Logan whispered into his collarbone. “Whether there’s a reason or not. We want to help, whether it be flooding you with endorphins like this or just being there for you, because obviously not every bad day can be solved or even improved by tickling, but we  _ can _ improve it by giving you what you need.”

“We love you, Pat,” Virgil finished, barely audible with the way he was mumbling into Logan’s shirt. “We’ll always love you. That doesn’t change because you’re having a hard time. Isn’t that what you always tell me?”

Patton reached out to grip Virgil’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “That’s right,” he whispered. “And I love all of you  _ so _ much.”

Logan snuggled in deeper to his chest, causing Virgil to do the same to him and Patton to do the same to Roman. Here, all tickled out and sandwhiched warmly between his favorite people, Patton felt safe. He yawned and closed his eyes with a content smile.

“Get some rest,” Logan said. “We’ll be here when you wake up. Always.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! Come visit me on tumblr at august-anon!!


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